Chained Souls
by terra hotaru
Summary: As Roxas released the seal to a forbidden creature, he immediately noticed his life changed. In a world full of magic and adventure, would the blond be able to cope and come to term with the being that started referring to him as "Master"? AkuRoku.
1. Axel

Roxas' grandfather predicted an upcoming tragedy that would fall upon Evillois. When Roxas was travelling the forest, he came across a cavern where he released the seal on a forbidden creature with eyes so green. AkuRoku.

**Warning**. It's warning time again. Huh? See that it's labeled M? Yeah, it's M, people. xD if you know what I mean by M, you can skip this warning. Don't know? It includes... Blood. Gore. Violence. Smut. Lemons. Yeah... lots and lots of those. And this is also **Romance** even though it is not put on as the category. I have trouble picking up two out of romance, supernatural, and fantasy. I ended up choosing the latter two. X3

I've been wanting to write this idea for almost 3 months now...

So, I'm starting a new fic again. LOL. –shot- yeah... well, seeing as DU is about to end (maybe), I guess it's not so wrong to submit this?... don't expect any weekly updates though. I hardly make it through both DU and Harmony of the Sky, let alone this. Anyway, a little prologue. Enjoy.

--

**Chained Souls**

**Chapter 1**

**Axel**

In the far away country of Evillois, where the sun never rose and the plants had wilted long ago, lived a young boy of minor age. The young boy had hair so golden and eyes so blue—reminding people of how the sun had once shone in the vast bright blue sky.

The boy's name was Roxas.

Roxas was living a quiet life in the Forest of Dark, located in the far east of Evillois. He had never showed his face in town, for his grandfather, Ansem the Wise, who had once ruled the land of Evillois told him not to.

Everyday, the young boy would go out of the little house that only he and his grandfather lived in to gather woods and food. The young boy had huge flexibility—having trained by his grandfather in a young age on how to fight and how to defend himself.

Sometimes, Roxas would question himself as to why he needed to be trained on how to fight when the world was so peaceful. Sure, the sun never shone in Evillois—but it was never a problem. Evillois was always so peaceful and had always been in a good term with the neighboring country of Mirellas and Ettillis. From what Roxas knew, the country of Mirellas and Ettillis would always go out of their way in order to help the land of Evillois. They would always give Evillois the food they needed.

But of course, the leader of Evillois had also come up with technologies that would help the country by finding means to grow plants without the aide of the sunlight. They had even discovered ways to manipulate the plants so that they would live under an environment of the artificial sunlight they had created. The Land of Evillois was blessed with talented scientists, intelligent scholars, and skillful magicians.

While the land of Evillois thrived under its human resources, the Land of Mirellas was the most beautiful Land. The earth in the Land of Mirellas was blessed with eternal wealth and health. Plants grew gorgeously there and the Sun always shone in the land of Mirellas. The country never suffered food or water shortage. Their lives were blessed.

The Land of Ettillis, however, thrived under its vast technologies. Power and electrical sources ran smoothly there. Battleship, metallic weapons, heavy infantries, and tons of armies kept the Land standing.

The three Land leaders came into a conclusion one day that each of the countries that they were leading had their own weaknesses. Therefore, the best course of action and the best option there was was for them to unite and work together in order to achieve peace and harmony. Mirellas would be the country to supply the other two countries with food. The Land of Evillois would continue to do research both for its own country and for the other two lands, while Ettillis would protect all the Lands from any sort of invasions. But of course, for hundreds of years, there was no invasion whatsoever from any foreign countries. However, in addition, Ettillis was also the one that provided the source of entertainment for the three countries. TVs, video games, cartoon shows—all of those were products of the Land of Ettillis.

The three lands achieved Harmony and Peace for hundreds of years to pass. Quarrels were, of course, present, but it never led to anything big.

--

"Morning, Granpa!" Roxas smiled, stretching while walking pass Ansem, who was sitting on his rocking chair, watching TV in the living room.

"Roxas, it is about time you wake up." Ansem greeted, voice calm and gentle.

Roxas smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I slept late the night before."

"That is fine."

Roxas walked over and sat down on the sofa that was placed in front of the small set of television. "The news?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Why do you always watch the news? It's... dull..." Roxas commented, pouting.

"It is much better than your cartoon show that shows no meaning and moral whatsoever." Ansem retorted, still watching the news forecast.

"But it's entertaining, granpa!" Roxas countered again, yawning a bit.

"You are still such a kid." Ansem heaved a soft sigh, looking at his grandson.

Roxas blew raspberry. "Just because I watch cartoon doesn't mean I'm a kid."

"Roxas. You must listen to the news. There are so many important things that you need to put your attention to."

Roxas grunted. _Here it goes again, Gramps' lecture..._

"Your cartoon shows don't teach you about the real world as it should."

"Yes, grandpa." Roxas nodded, showing respect, sighing a bit.

"There are so many events happening in the Three Lands right now." Ansem spoke wisely.

"Events?" Roxas asked, seemingly interested.

"Yes. The Land of Mirellas seemed to be unwilling to share its food resources anymore to Ettillis and Evillois reasoning that the food is not enough for everyone. Evillois has found some way over the years to create a food production of their own, but it is not enough to feed the entire country while at the same time the scientists must do research to improve the plantations in Mirellas and the army building in Ettillis. While all that the Land of Ettillis does is provide entertainment and forcing Mirellians and Evilloians to pay for that entertainment."

"I thought... everything's ok between all the countries?" Roxas frowned.

"In the surface, everything seems okay. But no, each countries have problems. And the problem that has arisen now is that the Land of Ettillis is slaving Evillois and Mirellas into providing the basic life needs for them. We succumb because Ettillis has unimaginable power and armies."

"Oh... So...we're going to... battle?" Roxas stated dumbfoundedly. His grandfather might have been Evillois' leader years before he was born, but Roxas never have much intelligence when it came to politics and planning. He always wanted to live a nice, peaceful life. And the life that his grandfather had provided for him was exactly the way he wanted it to.

"No, but I have a feeling, Roxas. That a war will be unavoidable."

"Well, granpa. What can you and I do?" Roxas blinked, his mind going blank.

"For now, there's nothing we can do. Your magic is still too weak for you to join the scientists and the magicians that are working in the palace."

"I'm learning!" Roxas smiled.

"And I don't want you to work with those petty rascals. You, my grandson... if the war should come, you must survive. Never think about others and don't get yourself into this trivial war and political business. Promise me, Roxas."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Sure! Alright, granpa." He grinned, more than happy that he wouldn't have to think too much about the world. He surely had no interest in helping others.

"No matter what. You mustn't get yourself into all of this."

Roxas nodded firmly. After a while of watching the news with Ansem, Roxas stood up from where he was sitting. "Alright, I'm going to go out."

"Be careful, Son." Ansem smiled.

"Yep."

--

Roxas travelled through the Forest of Dark, the forest that he grew up in and had already become so familiar with. The words that his grandfather had told him earlier were still fresh in his head.

He jumped through veins and poison ivies that grew in the forest. Occasionally, he would summon light to the tip of his finger in order to illuminate his path in that pitch dark forest. Learning a little bit of magic from Ansem had certainly benefited in his quest through his daily chore of gathering food. Once in a while, he would encounter some forest' animals—poison toads, men eating plants, leopard cubs, bear cubs, and other beings that occupied the forest. When he encountered those creatures, he would fight them off by using magic or hit them using his own well crafted wooden sword. To an extent, his magic and offense surely improved whenever he fought the creatures and won against them.

Fighting always lifted his heart. He always loved the feeling of being able to use his magic to a full extent. He smirked victoriously as he summoned a fireball and successfully incapacitate a poison toad, grinning, he jumped as he noticed that his fireball had came out perfectly as that—a fireball. All his previous attempts had been laughable to a point that it was not funny anymore. The first time he performed this new magic on a poison ivy, he ended up being beaten by the ivy and gotten poisoned. Luckily, his grandfather had been around to save him. The second time had been well—except that his fireball shaped like a square. There that other time that it shaped oval, another time a semi circle—there was even a time that it shaped like a star, completely disrespecting the graceful name of "Fireball."

Roxas had been upset and had given up. Ansem though, was highly interested with all the shapes that Roxas had formed. He had seen a lot of magicians trying to shape their fireballs magic in a different shape, but had failed miserably. Roxas was able to do it without any difficulties. That could mean only two things—either Roxas was incredibly talented or either he was highly...silly, having difficulties in making his fire magic shaped like a ball.

"Next one in the list..." Roxas grinned as he took out a small piece of paper from his pocket. He read the contents of the paper aloud, written by his grandfather in very neat handwriting.

"_After you have successfully manipulate the elements of fire and turn a fireball as a... fireball, you are allowed to manipulate its opposite element, water."_

"Whoo hoo!" the blond cheered. "Water."

He shoved the piece of paper back inside his pocket and began thinking. He remembered one time when Ansem had lectured him about the water element.

"_Water is the essence of all beings. No beings can survive without water. Therefore, water has a high curing property. While water can be successfully manipulated to harm and torture other beings, when you're just starting to manipulate this element, it is best for you to remember and understand its healing properties first before using it as an offensive element."_

"Huh..." Roxas smiled. "Healing. Got it." he whispered to himself before travelling further into the forest in order to find a source of water.

The water sources around the forest had decreased immensely ever since the last time he was in the area. Food gathering had also become increasingly difficult with the increasing amount of creatures that were also hunting for food. In a way, Roxas felt bad for harming the creatures. That was why he never really killed those forest creatures. He merely rendered them unconscious and moved on with his food hunting.

Getting deeper and deeper inside the forest, he found himself in an area that he had never been in before. There were a lot of food resources there. Fruits and harmless vegetables that he could take home and branches that could be put into the fireplace to burn to gain warmth at night. He was about to gather them and go, but he stopped when something else attracted his attention.

He frowned when he saw a squirrel and a rabbit running towards the same direction and disappearing amidst the bushes of dark leaves. He summoned brighter lightsource, aiming the light he summoned to the direction of where he saw the rabbit and squirrel. He frowned when he saw nothing. Summoning yet another light source to the tip of his finger, he decided to follow out of curiosity. Jumping through several vines and ivies, passing through leaves and bushes, he finally found the two forest creatures. And strangely, he had also found a cavern... a small, dark cavern. The rabbit and the squirrel ran inside and disappeared again.

Roxas stood outside the cavern, contemplating on whether or not he should take a step inside. He looked left and right, seemingly thinking using his rational thoughts, sealing himself from the overwhelming temptation to ease his curiosity. He put his hands to his hips, thinking some more before sighing. _It won't kill me_.

Then, the blond went inside, crouching down and slowly trudging inside the cavern.

The inside of the cavern was obviously larger than its outward appearance. Roxas gasped at the breathtaking sight. It was something that he had never seen before. He blinked, looking left and right, making sure that he was not merely dreaming or becoming delusional.

There, in the cavern...

The cavern was walled with shining light-blue crystal walls. Roxas had never seen something so bright before. His house was probably the closest thing that was as bright as the area he was in. But that was only because his grandfather had performed a powerful magic to light the house.

Roxas swallowed, the sight was truly breathtaking. The walls were shining beautifully, faintly reflecting his reflections all over. There were five rocks sitting right in the middle of the area, forming a perfect circle, taking up a large space. The area inside those five rocks was the only place where it was not covered with crystals. It was a simple brown and yellow colored earth. There were several beautiful green colored grasses growing there and two little white petaled flowers.

Inside the large space of area surrounded by the five small rocks that were tied together with a thick rope was an enormous rock, standing tall, planted on the ground in the upper part of the space.

And there, with his back against the rock, sitting on the ground, was a... human...

A human with a pair of small black horns sticking out for each sides of his temple and curling to the front, dressed in a simple piece of perfectly fitted leafy shirt and short pants. Roxas couldn't stop staring at the man. The man had flaming red hair that was combed to the back of his head, sticking in all directions. Part of his legs and arms were covered in what seemed like—red scales. His skin though, was pale. His ankles and wrists were chained to the enormous stone, binding him to it. He seemed to be sleeping.

Roxas took in small breathes, wondering who the man with the red hair was.

Forest creatures were also gathered around the five rocks, deers, squirrels, rabbits, birds...but none of them move and none of them was inside the rope—inside the area that was enclosed by the five rocks and the rope. Slowly, out of curiosity, Roxas stepped closer.

_Ribbit!_

Roxas jumped suddenly when he heard the noise. He turned 180 degrees and fell backwards, effectively landing on his bottom on the ground and cutting off the rope that was tying the five rocks together.

And the man behind him began to glow. Roxas didn't realize this fact because he was facing his back against the redhead.

Roxas grunted and stood up, dusting himself off the dust.

Stretching out his right arm, with his palm facing the poison toad that had just scared him, he stated calmly. "Fireball." And a perfectly round-shaped fireball came out of his palm, aimed towards the toad. The toad was immediately incapacitated.

Roxas smiled.

When the blond returned his attention to the man, he found out that he had broken the rope. "Oh... whoops?" he stated uncertainly, wondering if he would get in trouble for doing that.

Frowning a bit, not caring about the fact that he had broken properties anymore, he stepped closer to the man. "Are you okay?" He asked, worried. "Why are you.... glowing?" he whispered.

Slowly, he knelt down on one knee, watching the redhead closer, putting one of his hands to the redhead's knee. "Hey?" he called uncertainly, leaning closer to see if the redhead was okay. Was he injured and incapacitated?

Before he knew what happened, the next thing he found out was that someone had apparently pushed his head closer and then... the very next thing that he knew...his lips were already on the man's. He gasped in disgust, immediately pushing himself away. "Hey!! What?!!" he wiped his lips with the back of his hand and he immediately turned to find out who had pushed him. It turned out that it was nothing...but a deer. He grunted in disgust. "Ewww.. I just kissed an unknown.. stranger..." he frowned deeply, standing up.

There was suddenly a flash of bright light as he turned to face the man. Roxas shut his eyes so that the light would not blind him. He could hear irons shattering. When he opened his eyes again, the man has disappeared. The chains were shattered.

"What?" Roxas became wary and he immediately looked around the area.

Little did he know that there was a tiny creature jumping up to his back.

"Watch out. To your left!"

Roxas yelped when he heard a voice coming out of nowhere. The voice was deep, but playful.

Roxas immediately turned to his left, becoming alerted as soon as he found a bear cub that was ready to attack him. "Fireball." He said as he used his magic, but the bear cub had successfully avoided his magic.

However, the bear cub suddenly stopped and ran away.

The blond released a small sigh of relieve.

"Don't let your guard down." Said the same voice in the same playful manner. "The big one will come soon, blondie."

"What? Who are you? Show yourself!" Roxas yelled.

"I'd rather watch. Thanks." The voice replied.

And soon enough, before Roxas could reply another word, he could feel the entire cavern trembled violently.

"What are you doing standing there? Go outside."

"Why?" Roxas asked, dumb-founded while all the forest animals were all already running off outside.

"Duh, do you want to be buried alive in this cavern? I sure don't fancy that. Quick, get your nice piece of ass running!"

"What?!" Roxas protested, flushing a bit. "What ass?"

"You have a nice piece of ass, kid. Now, move it." The voice said, chuckling.

"Whoever you are, I'm not going to let you go after I take care of whatever it is." Roxas pouted unhappily, running outside the cavern.

When he was outside, he stopped to a halt. He had to snap his head up in order to fully register in the gigantous creature standing before him. "Whoa..." he gasped, cerulean eyes wide in shock.

"Now...that's just _huge_." The voice commented.

"Well, it's time for you to come out and help me now. Whoever you are." Roxas replied spitefully.

"I refrain. Show me if you're worthy of becoming my master, kid."

"Master?"

"Yeah, beat this thing and show me." The voice spoke in confidence.

"Who are you?"

"Name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Axel...?"

Roxas frowned.

The gigantous bear lifted a foot and stomped down the ground. Roxas hastily reflexed, running away to avoid the impact.

He grunted, watching the bear's movement carefully. "So, I'll need to beat this thing?" he asked uncertainly. He had trouble battling four bear cubs all alone at the same time. And now, some voice named Axel wanted him to defeat an enormous bear? He would be dead before he knew what happened.

"Talk about Blank with a capital B." the voice drawled. "Yeah, defeat it. Careful, to the left!"

"Damn!" Roxas cursed as he immediately jumped away from another attack from the bear.

"Atta boy!" the voice cheered.

Roxas huffed and pouted. "Fine, so be it." he narrowed his eyes and began concentrating for the battle.

--

So, how do you like this so far? Tell me what you think. My first new multi chap in a while. Hope you enjoy. Feel free to tell me if I should continue on with this or not. Thank you!

Love.


	2. Blood Contract

As I've said in my review replies, Fast Update! I don't fancy holding back a chapter. : D

Enjoy!

**Chained Souls**

**Chapter 2**

**Blood Contract**

His cerulean eyes were trying his best to concentrate, seeking for any opening possible that would come to his advantage. He growled, annoyed that he had to jump away to dodge the bear's attack again. He really couldn't come to his senses as to why a bear could grow _this_ huge. He had never seen a bear that big before. The biggest he had ever seen was around five times smaller and to even defeat those normal sized bears, he had to suffer some injuries.

He would...undoubtedly _die_ if he continued to battle that bear that was five times larger. As he was jumping away, he continued to use his magic, hoping that he could at least inflict damage to the bear—even if it was minor. "Fireball!" he shouted, panting as his back hit the ground from the horrible shake due to the bear's punch to the ground. The darkness in the area didn't help any to Roxas' advantage. In fact, the darkness had caused him to lose his direction, avoiding blindly every time the monster attacked.

"Poison Ivy to the right. Don't jump there, kid."

Roxas rolled his eyes in frustration. He was getting sick of being ordered around by the annoying and bossy voice. Suddenly, it was all not funny anymore. "Can you just get your lazy ass out here and _help_?!" the blond snapped.

"I'd be happy too!" the voice cheered. "But ya know. This is your trial. I'm not supposed to meddle."

"What kind of trial? Argh!" Roxas frowned as he used yet another fireball aimed towards the large furry arm of the bear while hastily climbing and jumping to a tree, standing on one of its branch.

"Wow, kid. You have a good athletic body. Told ya your ass is a nice piece."

Roxas flushed again. "Shut up." He took in a shaky breath, staring at the bear which had seemed to lost sense of his whereabouts.

"What say you and me go out and have lunch together after all this, kid? It'll fun!"

"No!" Roxas breathed, rejecting the invitation without having the desire to think over it a second time.

"Aww, c'mon kid. Don't be so tense. Tell you what, I know the bear's weakness."

"Well, tell me! Oh shit!" Roxas jumped off the tree when the bear found him, immediately rolling away to avoid the assault. In the process of landing to the ground, he injured one of his wrists. He hissed in pain.

"Youch...Sorry 'bout that, kid. That's gonna hurt in _weeks_."

"Shut up." Roxas snapped again.

"You've got spikes, kid."

"Either you help me, or... _Shut. Up."_ The blond snapped again.

"Water."

"Huh?"

"Aww, c'mon. You should know. Don't only use fireballs. Fire may be hot, like me." The voice boasted. "And I appreciate it that you love it so much!" it chuckled. "But see, it doesn't help. Manipulate other elements too. They're your friends. Got it memorized?"

Roxas stopped, standing still. "Other. Elements." He repeated the word.

"For all the things holy... Don't tell me you can only manipulate _one_ element."

"This is the first day that I've successfully shaped the fire as a ball..."

"Oh... oh yeah... we're _doomed! _Run, run somewhere, kid. I sure don't want a fine kid like you to die like this."

"Oh really?" Roxas narrowed his eyes, starting to think that maybe whoever was talking was a nice person after all.

_Wrong_

"Yeah! You have such a nice ass and oo, do you know that your neck is nice and soft and your hair. What shampoo do you use?"

Roxas flushed red, feeling undoubtedly molested, conscious or not, directly or indirectly.

"Impact from the front! Dodge!" the voice yelled.

Roxas immediately responded, dodging to the left as the bear swung its huge club down, growling loudly. "Teach me then!" the blond finally breathed a sigh of defeat.

"Teach you?" The voice sounded confused.

"Yeah, uhm... what's your name again?"

The voice growled. "It's Ax-el. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" Axel drawled.

"Oh yeah, Axel. Right. Whatever. Teach me."

"What? How to flirt? I can teach you _anything_, kid."

Roxas could hear the nasty smirk in that voice. "Okay, if you don't stop. I'm going to think that you're gay. Teach me how to manipulate the water element, qui—WHOA!" he dashed away again, hissing as he accidentally bent his injured wrist. Due to his tardiness to response, he ended up landing down flat on his bottom. "Ow!" he yelled, obviously not happy.

"Oh no, don't tell me your ass is flat now. That's not going to be sexy, kid."

"Shut. Up. Got it memorized?" Roxas growled.

"Ooo, spiky... Alright, tell you what. Just run! Run and get help."

"No." Roxas retorted stubbornly. "Either you help or leave me alone. I'll figure out a way to defeat...this...eventually."

Axel grunted. "It's not like you can do it anyway. This makes me wonder why my master is so..._weak_."

"Fireball."

The bear didn't even flinch.

"What master? Why are you talking about this...master thing?"

"Duh, you broke the rope. You broke the seal. You kissed me. Voila. I'm here."

Roxas blushed full-on. "Ki... WHAT?"

"Admit it, kid. I know."

"Who...wait, you're the dude that's chained and sitting there by that huge rock."

"Yeah, the same dude that you took advantage of when I'm sleeping peacefully."

"Right, like anyone would take advantage of you." Roxas rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, we got someone who _did_."

The blond growled. "Alright. Stop bickering already. Tell!" he said as he ran to hide behind the bushes. The bear lost sight of him and he sighed in relieve.

"Have you already mastered water's healing properties?"

"Ye... no."

"Awesome. We're _doomed_." Axel spoke sarcastically.

"Well, tell me how!"

"Alright. If I'm right, there should be a small lake to the east. Run there, kid. You can use some healing yourself."

"Got it." Roxas followed the instruction and soon as he kept running, he finally found a water source. "One question. Do I always have to find a water source in order to manipulate the element?"

"No. You don't have to. Water is everywhere in nature. Every living being is made out of water. But you're only a beginner. So, it will be better for you to manipulate the element from a ready source. Instead of extracting water from your environment...but then again, that's what you're supposed to do to that bear. You have to extract the water out of it. Let it go dry and kill it."

"Kill? Are you serious?"

"Of course. Kill everything that endangers us. Isn't that how human works?"

Roxas shook his head. "We're here."

"Good. Now, just as how you manipulate fire...use your imagination!" Axel's smirk was audible in his voice.

Roxas growled. Not wanting to quarrel anymore, he took off his shoes and stepped into the lake. As soon as he was in there, he leveled his breathings so that it turned back to normal. He took in a deep shaky breathe, shaking every thought away, forgetting that he was being chased, forgetting that he was in a battle. As he closed his eyes, he could hear the water around him tingling and splotching. He could hear the motions of the water.

He concentrated even more before the particles of water around him began to lift up in the air and it soon wrapped the blond in a cocoon of water. Roxas could feel the water around him and soon, he could feel all the physical pain in his body lifted off. His wrist didn't hurt anymore and his body felt like new. As he opened his eyes slowly, the water around him stilled and calmed down.

"I'm... healed..." Roxas blinked, looking at the parts of his body which was injured earlier, waving his hand around, no longer feeling any pain in his wrist.

"Wow... are you sure this is your first time, kid?"

"Yeah..." Roxas nodded.

"That's... amazing..."

Roxas chuckled happily.

"Alright. So... seems like you've mastered the element's healing properties. Now, see that small plant over there? Extract all the water out of it."

"Where?" Roxas looked around. It was really dark. Then, he heard a flick and a medium sized floating ball of fire materialized around him. Another flick and the ball flew off to the direction of where Axel intended, lighting up everything that came across its path.

"That one. It should be easy enough."

"So... use my imagination again?" Roxas frowned.

"No. Now, this time... Argh... how should I explain this..."

There was a moment of silence before Roxas noticed another tremble. The bear was near.

"Okay, okay. Now that you know about water's healing properties, use the element the opposite way. This is a high level magic, kid. And your life depends on it."

"Opposite."

"Every element can be used to aide or harm. The effect it caused depends solely on the one who willed it—it depends on the magician who manipulates the magic. For example, fire can be used offensively like how you used Fireball. But it can also be used to give warmth and life to others. Water can cure, but if you use it right, you can suck the life out of living beings."

Roxas listened to the explanation carefully.

"Wind can also heal, but not the same way as water. The wind element can get rid of your properties, like poison, paralyze, or other properties that you will find out soon. But wind can also be used offensively, slicing enemies off, for example. The Wind Blade is nifty, kid. Remember that when you're learning Wind. Last is Earth. Earth give plants life and it can also be used to form a shield that will protect you. Earth is the hardest element to manipulate and it is the strongest—both offensive and defensive. Light and Dark are advance elements. You can worry about them later."

Roxas gulped. "I see." His grandfather never told him all of that before—possibly because Ansem wanted Roxas to take things in slowly and not only practice, but also understand the theory.

"You're a smart kid. Now, concentrate."

For once, the voice actually sounded serious.

"Right." The blond nodded before closing his eyes again. He yelped as soon as he felt the ground trembled and shook violently.

"Ignore your surroundings. A good magician must be able to ignore distractions." Axel provided thoughtfully.

"Hm!" Roxas nodded firmly, standing still in front of the knee-high plant that grew there. He took in a deep breathe, trying his very best to ignore all the shaking and the growling from the bear, pretending that he was all alone in the forest.

He gulped as he stretched out his arms so that his palms face the plants. Then, as he concentrated even more, he retracted his hands, placing all his energy into one point. Then, he could feel... something. He felt revitalized as if...he was absorbing something. And when he opened his eyes, he did. He was absorbing the plant's source of life. Light blue particles could be seen travelling to his palms and disappearing into his body. "Is that right?" he asked hesitantly.

"You...got it, kid..." _He pulled off a high level magic in minutes... who is this kid?_

"So, I just have to do the same thing to the bear?" Roxas smiled, ceasing his magic, not wanting to kill the plant.

"Yeah."

Roxas quickly jumped up to a tree, the small floating ball of fire following him, lighting up his path. He jumped from branches to branches until finally he came into sight with the huge bear—which was really hard to miss.

"You have to be able to concentrate and dodge at the same time. Good luck, kid."

Roxas nodded before he closed his eyes and did exactly as what he did to the plant. Then, he could feel the healing power surging into him as he absorbed the bear's life. The bear noticed the magic that was used against him. Growling, it slammed its club to the whole area of forests, including the tree that Roxas was standing on. The blond immediately jumped away, sighing in relief of his fast reflexes.

As he found a place where he wouldn't be discovered, he began to absorb again.

The blond continued to do that, avoiding and dodging when needed to and absorbing when he found a place where he wouldn't be discovered, using every opportunity presented to his advantage.

As he continued to do that, it was noticeable that the bear grew more and more wobbly until it finally fell on the ground, sitting on his bottom, trying to get up, but having no power to do so.

"Alright, kid. Now, finish him off."

Roxas shook his head, stopping his magic. "No. He's harmless now. There's no need to finish him."

The bear growled weakly, seemingly less aggressive than before.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Roxas grinned. "Now, you can show yourself." The blond demanded as soon as everything had calmed down. He took a last look, making sure that the bear wouldn't get up and attack him again.

However, before the peacefulness lasted long enough for Roxas to marvel in, there was a loud howl. "What?" Roxas whispered, looking around. The gigantic bear was still sitting there, lying down slowly and finally went to sleep. Was there another one? The blond became wary, concentrating on where the source of the howls came from. It couldn't be a bear this time...the howls sounded more like the howls of leopards or tigers.

Roxas jumped away hastily, dashing up the tree and standing on a branch. "Oh...no way..." he whispered in awe and terror.

A pack of leopards was heading towards him, seemingly able to catch his scent.

"Kid, run back to the cavern."

"What? Why? So we can be lunch for them there?" Roxas replied sarcastically, tired and exhausted.

"Listen to me. Run back there. Those leopards are clearly targeting you."

"I can use absorb to..."

"It will be too slow. Leopards are the fastest animal in the jungle. It's utterly different from that slow bear. Trust me, kid. Go back to that cavern. It's my job to do something about this now."

Roxas contemplated a bit before he nodded. "Alright."

Jumping from branches to branches with his great flexibility, he looked everywhere to find his way back to the cavern. As he dashed passed, trying to be as oblivious to the Leopards as possible, he finally found the cavern. However, before he was able to enter the cavern, a leopard jumped in front of him and blocked the entrance. "Fireball." Roxas stated calmly whilst panting. The leopard dodged away and the blond immediately took that chance to run inside the cavern.

He caught his breath after arriving inside. "What now?" he asked.

"Go to that rock where you found me."

Roxas nodded, being cooperative. "Then?"

"Go around the rock, you should be able to find a small blade and a mini worship temple."

"Oh..." Roxas ran around and found what Axel told him.

"Take that knife and cut the one of your fingers. Let your blood spill to the temple. That should seal our contract."

"Alright." Roxas nodded, picking up the small knife. "Wait..." he paused. "What contract? Seal what?"

"You will be my Master."

"Huh?"

"Hurry. Unless you want to become the leopard's lunch. I'm sure you taste yummy, kid. But seriously, I would rather be the one to _eat_ you rather than having those nasty leopards have delicious you in their stomach."

Roxas flushed again. "What _is _up with you?" he growled.

"Stating the truth." Axel chuckled.

"Yeah." Roxas sighed. "Alright, whatever." He agreed, not wanting to become anyone's lunch at all. He could take care of the voice after. Taking the blade near, he placed his index finger right on top of the small temple. Carefully, he cut through the skin of his finger, hissing a little as he felt the razor sharp knife cutting through his skin. Blood pooled in the wound.

Flipping his hand around, Roxas let the blood dripped down.

As soon as a drip of blood touched the top of the temple, a flash bright light filled the entire cavern. Roxas was blinded for a while and the next thing he knew, he was already lying on the ground with his front pressed firmed on it, feeling the heavy weight above him. He grunted, wanting to get up but couldn't.

"Surprise butt sex!!!" A voice cheered happily, the same voice that Roxas had grown familiar with.

Roxas flushed bright red before he stated, "Fireball."

Whoever it was that was on top of him immediately jumped away and Roxas stood up, dusting himself off of the dust before he shifted his attention to look at... whoever...it...was?...

Roxas' jaw dropped. "You!" he pointed. "You are the same person...!" he flushed again.

"Aww, we kissed. Don't point at me like that. 'Sides, I told ya." The man in front of him grinned.

The same man that Roxas found sitting and chained to the rock.

The same man with horns, scales, and simple leafy clothes.

"Alright, let's get it started. This should be fun. Watch carefully, kid." The man smirked happily, cracking his hands.

"You're... Axel?" Roxas frowned.

"The one and only."

When Roxas followed the redhead around the rock, he found out that the pack of leopards was already gathered inside the cavern—there were eight of them.

"Stay there, little blondie. It's my turn to kick some ass."

Roxas frowned, somehow admiring the redhead's confidence. He nodded, standing inside the boundaries of the five rocks.

Axel smirked as he turned to face the pack of leopards, watching closely for any that was going to make its moves. He stepped in circle before he immediately noticed that a leopard was going to launch at him. He dodged hastily, dashing to the left before he rolled over to the other side, another leopard attacking him. He got a scratch on his cheek.

Roxas watched in panic. Did the redhead need any help? He decided not to meddle unless needed. He doubted he could win against leopards.

Axel suddenly dashed in to assault one of the leopards, he spun and kicked the black leopard causing it to fly off and hit the wall. "Seven more." Axel grinned before spinning around and kicking another one. "Six."

He dashed away with the speed of a wolf, leaving trails of fire behind, running through the walls and somersaulting, taking down another leopard. "Five." He counted.

Then, he stopped, stopping in front of the pack of leopards which were cowering in fear. He seemed to be concentrating, gathering all his energy in one point, forming an enormous fire sphere above his head. Smirking, he threw the fireball to the pack of leopards, effectively dispatching the pack of animals. "Zero." He chuckled. There was a burst of wind, flowing inside the cavern as the fireball diminished into the thin air.

Roxas was twitching as of now. "Why didn't you help me with the bear just _now?_ I could have been killed!" he yelled.

"Calm down, kid." The lanky redhead spoke, putting one of his hands to his hips, complementing his womanly shaped body.

Roxas pouted. "Just tell me what is happening here." He demanded.

"Easy. I was sealed. You broke the seal. You kiss me and broke the chain. I was awoken. I tutored you through the whole battle. We sealed a contract with your blood. And I'm here. Magic!" Axel explained half heartedly, playful.

"Wait, you miss some part. Where _were_ you when you were... tutoring me, so to speak."

"Oh, you'll find out about that later. Details details. Not important. What's important right now..." Axel drawled. The weird creature approached the blond. Roxas was immediately alerted and stepped backwards until his back touched the rock. He yelped as Axel placed his hands to his sides, effectively blocking any way out.

"What are you...doing?" Roxas yelled, trying to sound intimidating even under all the pressure.

"Oh, nothing. Can I take a bite?" Axel smirked.

"Excuse me? _**Bite?!**_"

"You're excused." Axel narrowed his eyes in a teasing smirk as he leaned in closer. He placed his face at the hollow of Roxas' neck. Then, he opened his mouth before finally biting down on the blond's delicious neck. Roxas hissed in pain. Axel grinned as he drew blood out, biting down even more with his sharp fangs before sucking at the wound gently, then licking the blood off.

Roxas hastily shoved the man away, panting, and flushing. He kicked Axel with such force that the redhead ended up flying away and hitting his back against the wall.

"Ouch!" the redhead growled.

"You horn pervert. Don't let me see you again!" Roxas yelled, touching the wound on his neck, stomping off.

Axel watched as the figure disappeared, smirking happily. "He's strong when he wants to. This will be interesting... kid... what's his name?" he wondered as he laughed, wiping off the blood from his lips with the back of his hand. "Blood tastes like... iron... bleh..." he made a disgusting face before standing up to pursue the blond.

The eight leopards were lying unconscious in the cavern and the temple at the back of the rock shone brightly, approving the contract with a new Master.

--

It has actually been a while since I write a flirty and somehow jerk-y Axel. Lol. xD it's fun writing him like that. And Roxas is still our adorable little Roxas, our wittle magician! Yee! AkuRoku! –fangirl- I sure enjoyed writing this fic a LOT. I hope you all enjoyed reading it too. It's such a nice change of pace and scenery. I love writing fantasy. And this one is actually really entertaining to write...especially since it has been a _year_ since I've played any classic old RPGs with fireballs and stuff. Ah, I miss the good ol' days. X3

Next up, I'll work on chapter 18 of Dark Underworld.


	3. Explanations

**Special Thanks: **To **InsaneCat6 **for pointing out some facts about Leopards. I appreciate it so much! Thank you. To **SavvyLovesYaoi** for pointing out about my...non-enticing summary. Lol. And yeah, I changed the summary for this fic. I hope it's better now. Thanks so much for pointing it out. And of course, to **Lifes. Lover, **my lovely lovely best-friend who I love so much : D She's a whole bunch of awesome!!! X3 Love ya, Am!!!

Please feel free to critique and point out something weird to me!

I really appreciate all the feedbacks. It means a lot to me. Thank you!

Enjoy.

**Chained Souls**

**Chapter 3 **

**Explanations**

Roxas was sure that he was not going to hear from the voice or that nasty man anymore. He stomped through the Forest of Dark, completely forgetting his tasks to gather woods and food, still holding the side of his neck that was bitten by some _particular_ redhead. It stung and hurt.

He narrowed his eyes in fury.

Unforgivable!

He gently rubbed the wound, hoping that it would magically disappear if he kept rubbing it. It was beginning to itch and he could feel the blood oozing out slightly from the four holes that was Axel's fangs. That was... _sickening_. Undoubtedly so. He wondered slightly if those fangs were infected with some...dog disease. No, Axel sure was not a dog. He had _horns_. No wonder he had horns. Someone must have cursed him for being such a horny bastard.

The blond was not at all oblivious. He had tried to absorb water out of plants, in hopes that it would heal that wound. It was of no use. The wound wouldn't cover up and it had only stopped the bleeding the slightest. It was not a bad wound, but he was still bothered immensely by it. Being bitten by a weird man with horns turned out to be bizarre...no...bizarre was clearly an understatement of the year.

Roxas began to curse indignantly inside, never had been one to speak his minds out.

What he didn't get though... he was clearly a boy and his grandfather, Ansem, had clearly taught him that a relationship and...more importantly, anything _horny_, could only happen between men and women. And that was the reason he was born. Nothing like that could happen between a man and a man or a boy and a man. That was utterly ridiculous and law-defying.

Apparently, the redhead wasn't raised the same way.

That was not the most important thing. The most important thing right then was the fact that he had four _freaking_ _**holes**_at the side of his neck that was still _bleeding _slightly. That was utterly horrible and ridiculous. He would be interrogated for days if Ansem had found out. In addition, how would he answer if he was interrogated? Tell Ansem the truth? He surely didn't fancy that. His grandfather wouldn't take it lightly when he found out that Roxas had stepped into a forbidden territory and had freed something that was supposed to be sealed. Roxas knew his grandfather enough to know that something that was _forbidden_ was _forbidden_. No ifs and/or buts.

Growing up in that environment had made Roxas bent down to whatever the rules his grandfather had presented—but that didn't mean that Roxas never break any of them. His specialty was to break rules...apparently.

Before he knew it, he was already standing in front of his house with his head still full of all kinds of thoughts and anger.

"Boo!"

Roxas yelped and jumped backwards, falling flat on his bottom. "What?! Who?! Show yourself!"

"Aww, kid. You forgot about me already? I'm hurt." The voice sniffled, mocking sadness.

"You..." Roxas hissed. He frowned deeply. "Get out of my head!"

"I'm not _in_ your head." the voice drawled playfully.

"Where the heck are you?!"

"_Somewhere_. In a part of your body. Take a guess."

Roxas flushed instantly. "You horny bastard! Get out of where ever it is! I refuse to be molested by someone like you!"

"Awww, but I love to molest. You know, a Master and his Servant must accommodate to one another."

"_I_ am your master. Now I demand you to get out of wherever you are, show yourself, and tell me whatever it is you know!"

"Whoo, Master is demanding. What should I do?" Axel's smirk was apparent, wondering aloud mockingly.

Roxas yelped loudly when he felt a slap at his bottom. "What the...?!" he turned around only to find a solid object that had taken the form of a hand dancing in front of him. The hand was clearly made out of mud and rocks.

"Now I'm jealous of this hand. It gets to slap your..."

Roxas snapped before Axel could finish his sentence. "If. You. Ever say the word "ass" again. I swear, I'm going to..." he stated furiously. "KILL." He narrowed his eyes dangerously.

Silence.

"Okay, okay. I'll be a good boy, Master." Axel said obediently.

And Roxas was smart enough not to trust that certain redhead.

The hand in front of Roxas was still moving around and doing some really fancy things, flipping around, dancing, flicking. "What is this?" the blond asked curiously. When he reached out, trying to touch the hand, the hand immediately grabbed his hand, shaking it. "Oh, hey." Roxas smiled kindly.

"It's a pretty basic magic. Well, maybe not so basic."

"Huh?"

"You have to understand the Wind and Earth element first before you can do this."

There was a small flicking sound before the hand returned disappeared and became one with the earth. "Oh, so the form is made out of the Earth element and you use Wind to give it life?"

"Yeah, that's basically it. You're smart, kid."

"I think I can try it out." Roxas cheered.

"Don't you think you'd better go wherever you're heading to first?" Axel digressed.

"Oh... Grandpa." Roxas was about to open the door to his house before he stopped. "Oh no... I forgot... food and woods."

"It's your lucky day! Go around your house, kid."

"Huh? What are you playing?" the blond frowned again.

"Look straight!" Axel yelled. "Don't frown too much. Your adorable face will get all wrinkly! We don't want that!"

Roxas blushed. "Just..." he breathed. "What the hell is _up_ with you?!"

"My beautiful hair is up. Even if you want your face to wrinkle, I sure don't want to. I want my adorable master to stay that way after all."

"Can you just stop with all your cheesy flirts?" Roxas retorted, sighing.

"And look at who's flattered." Axel laughed.

Roxas flushed again. Eventually, the lithe blond walked around his house and he found food and woods there, lying on the ground. "Did you...do this?" he asked.

"Oh, of course not. Some magical forest creatures must have caught sight of my sexy master and decided to help him. Convenient, no?"

"Right." Roxas rolled his eyes. But then, he smiled. "Thanks, still."

Axel didn't retort, surprisingly.

--

Roxas was immediately greeted by his grandfather's deep and caring voice once he stepped into his house. "You're late, Roxas. Where have you been?" Ansem asked, looking at his grandson all over. "You're injured."

Roxas immediately tensed. Using his hand, he covered up the bite wounds that Axel had given him, making nervous gestures so it didn't seem as suspicious. "Huh? Oh yeah... I encountered a pack of leopards in the forest. I barely got away from them."

Wrong move.

"A pack of leopards?" Ansem asked, frowning in curiosity.

"Uh... yes." Roxas nodded hesitantly.

"Since when does Leopards hunt in packs?"

Roxas looked to the sides, thinking. It was until then that reality and wilderness struck him. "Yeah... since when?" he tilted his head to the side, asking himself.

There was a moment of silence.

"You'd better go clean yourself up, Roxas. I will prepare lunch."

"Yes, grandpa. Oh, I put the food I've gathered in the back of the house." Roxas said, not covering the wound in his neck anymore, still thinking, confused, walking upstairs to his bedroom.

Ansem watched in curiosity, noticing the bite wounds on Roxas' neck, narrowing his eyes to catch a better sigh before going to the kitchen.

--

Roxas heaved a deep sigh, sitting on his bed, raking his hair in frustration.

"Whoa! Careful!" the voice shouted.

"What?" Roxas questioned, frowning. It didn't take a while for him to fall flat on his bed on his back and feeling the weight on top of him. When he opened his eyes, he caught the sight of a certain very familiar _Axel_. The blond growled. "Get off of me."

The being with horns grinned widely. Roxas was beginning to think that he was delusional, but did he just see those horns tingled in a very weird gesture? "No can do, Master. Let me make you happy." The redhead purred and Roxas instantly blushed.

In that instant, Roxas turned hostile. "Fire, rise from the darkness. Vaporize the enemy before me."

There was a blast of light before Axel immediately jumped off to avoid the fire that appeared out of nowhere taking the form of vines, catching and surrounding their opponents, determined to burn everything off.

Roxas stood up. "Whoa... who...what?"

The vines of fire kept burning, dancing so brilliantly in Roxas' brightly lit room.

"Did you just do that?" Axel asked, amazed.

"I don't know...did I?" Roxas laughed awkwardly, watching the magic closely.

Axel chuckled. The redhead flicked his hand and countered the fire magic with his water magic, wrapping the veins of fire in a frozen solid of icicle. Then, the magic disappeared.

"How'd you do that?" Roxas grinned, watching Axel's magic with amazement.

"Practice, practice. I'll teach you, Master. You don't need to worry about that." Axel grinned. "You make a potential student and a great Master."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "That makes me wonder why I'm a master in the first place."

"Because you freed me. We can go into those details later." The tall redhead walked passed the small blond and sat on the small bed. "I'm ready to accept questions." He grinned brightly, emerald eyes staring intently into cerulean.

"Why are you such a perv?" was the first question that sprung up to the lithe blond's mind.

Axel laughed, humored. "You're so adorable, Master. It's not everyday that someone flushed so cutely when I flirted with them."

Roxas blew raspberry. "Stop calling me "Master" or "kid.""

"I don't know your name." the redhead replied.

"It's Roxas. You can call me that and I think I have to make clear that we are not in a slave-master relationship. I never want that."

"Want or not. We are in that kind of relationship. Kinky, eh?" Axel smirked.

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "Uhm, no. Not at all. So, was that magic?" the blond digressed.

"Was _what_ magic?"

"You know, getting the voice into my head and also magically appearing out of nowhere..." the blond rolled his eyes. "And accurately sitting on top of me every single time that happens."

"It's just two times." Axel drawled, still grinning.

"So... that's magic?"

"Naw, not really. See, I'm not really getting my voice into your head or even practicing telepathy. I'm in your head all along."

"Huh?"

"Well, to be precise, I'm in your hair." Axel answered non-chalantly, as if it was the simplest explanation in the world. "Got it memorized?" he added it as emphasize, pointing to his temple with his index finger.

"My hair?" Roxas frowned, trying to process what Axel was saying, patting his hair a bit.

"See, I'm cursed to this form..."

Before Roxas could ask any further, Axel had disappeared from his view in a puff of smoke.

"Down here!"

Roxas could hear a faint shouting as he shifted his attention downwards, to where Axel was previously sitting on the bed. There, he saw a mini figure that was not any bigger than a cockroach waving at him. The mini figure strangely took Axel's form. Roxas frowned deeply, poking the small figure causing the miniature form of Axel to slam backwards to the wall near the bed. The blond immediately smiled an innocent smile, knowing that he had undoubtedly injured and hurt the redhead.

"You Monster!!!" Axel shouted, grunting in pain.

"Sorry..." Roxas chuckled, feeling slightly amused. "Oh, so I'm a monster now, not your master?" he questioned evilly. "But, what kind of magic is that?"

"It's not a magic, kid. I'm cursed into this form. After you've sealed the contract and let your blood flow into the little temple, you've given me back my original form—which is..." _Poof_. "This."

Axel turned back into his normal-size horny form.

"So...?"

"So that means that you have a lot more contract to seal. I have a lot of forms before I'm cursed. There should be a lot of caverns scattered around the Lands. It shouldn't be too difficult."

"Really?" The blond asked in disbelieve.

"Yeah." Axel answered simply.

"It shouldn't be too difficult?" Roxas voiced his disbelief.

"Ye...no..."

Roxas pouted. "And I should play along with your game because..."

"Because you broke the seal. And as a Master, you should free me of this curse and give me back all my forms."

"And I have that obligation because..."

"Because I will grant you power and intelligence. I will help you in your conquest." Axel offered.

"Power and intelligence..." Roxas sounded disinterested. "Conquest?"

"All you humans think about nowadays is gaining power and rule the world, yes? I can help with that."

"Well, you've certainly got the wrong master." Roxas said calmly, taking off his outer shirt. "I'm perfectly content with this life with grandpa."

Axel blinked.

"I have no reason to go out of here and meddle in the situations the Three Lands are in. And I'm honestly not interested." Roxas took off another one of his shirt, leaving his upper body naked. He turned around to face Axel then. "I've broke the seal and now that you're free...you're free to go and find the caverns and free yourself."

Axel watched the blond's bare front with high interest. "You don't understand." He smirked, acting as if he was not looking at all. "I need a master to seal the contract in order to release the forms. I can't do it all by myself."

"Go grab a new master then. Offer them what you've offered me. I'm sure they will be more than happy to help." Roxas turned and went to grab his fresh blue towel from the hanger at the side of his bed. Axel was observing carefully all along as Roxas' lean body strolled casually across the room.

Axel smirked, finding it a little bit funny. "I can't just randomly grab a new master. The temple knows whose blood it is and it recognizes yours. So, it's only you that can seal the contracts."

"I don't care." Roxas replied uncaringly. "I don't wanna get involved." He added thoughtfully. "And besides, why did you bite my neck and drink my blood?"

"No reason, really. Just practicing vampirism. It's been my dream all along and ergh.. it's nasty. Blood is definitely not as tasty as it sounds by how those blood-drinkers described it."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "In any case, don't follow me around."

"I can teach you magic."

"Grandpa can teach me that."

"But I can teach you the advanced ones without holding you back. You have the talent, but it's not fully used to its extent. Your little knowledge about magic and elements does not do judgment to your high potential."

"I'm sure Grandfather will teach me about what I need to know when it is time."

"Don't tell me that you weren't excited getting to learn the element of Water today and even two spells at that." Axel tried.

"I was. But I don't want to have anything to do with you and your problems." Roxas answered sternly, stubborn.

"Look, Roxas. You have the potential and I have the ability to get you to where you want."

"And just where do I want to go?"

"I know you're not content with just staying here with your grandfather. You are an adventurous boy. I know that from the first time I laid eyes on you. You can't waste your youth in a gloomy place like this."

"For your information, every part of the Land of Evillois is dark and gloomy."

"And you're very sure about that?" Axel countered.

Roxas contemplated a bit. "Huh? Yeah, of course. It's dark everywhere in Evillois. Grandpa said that."

"And you don't have any desire to confirm that by yourself?"

Roxas was silenced. He shook his head slowly.

"And you're content with what your grandfather is informing and teaching you?" Axel tried again.

Roxas nodded uncertainly.

Axel watched Roxas with his cat like eyes, one of his hands rubbing at the skin of his scaled arms.

"Just tell me one thing." Roxas voiced. "The bear and those leopards...there's something up with them, right?"

"They are our trial."

"Our trial?"

"The bear is your trial to see if you're worthy of becoming my master. The pack of leopards is my trial to see if I'm worthy to be your servant." Axel explained simply, tone platonic and calm.

"And we passed the trials?"

"Yes. And I guess that answers your gramps question. Leopards don't normally hunt in packs, but since it's a trial and I guess they are beings that are formed out of magic..."

"I see."

"What do you say, kid? Are we in this together? It's very simple, really. All you have to do is help me gain back all my forms and I'm out of your sight."

Roxas shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no."

"It's your decision, but I'm still staying near you."

"Because of the contract?"

Axel smirked. "No. Because I want to."

Roxas flushed.

--

Roxas and Ansem sat face to face on the small round dining table once it was lunchtime. There was a huge pot of boiling mushroom-stuffed soup standing on the middle of the table. The soup was colored yellow. No matter how many times Roxas looked at his grandfather's cooking, it always looked so nasty to him, but he knew that the taste was never bad. The mushrooms could be seen floating over the thick liquid soup and he could see chives, parsleys, carrots, and other herbs inside the pot. Set in front of him was a small bowl with a spoon. The bowl was filled with fresh chamomile and bread to eat together with the soup.

The blond waited until Ansem was done spooning the soup into his bowl before he began filling his bowl with soup.

When Roxas was done, he blew the hot soup gently, making it warm. Then, he sipped the soup into his mouth.

"Bleh, that looks nasty." Axel commented. "But it smells good."

"Roxas, is there any explanation to the wounds on your neck?" Ansem asked calmly while swallowing his soup slowly.

Roxas immediately dropped his soup-spoon and hurled out all his un-swallowed thick liquid back to his bowl. His hands shot up to cover the wounds. "Wh-what?" he pretended he didn't know, flushing red.

"You are hiding something." Ansem came to a conclusion. "Is it a poisonous bite?" he commented calmly, sipping his soup slowly as if it was not a big thing.

"No, it is not, grandpa." Roxas sighed in relieve to know that Ansem was not upset.

Silence. Roxas drank his soup again, slowly.

"Is it a lovebite?" Ansem tried.

Roxas shot up in shock, falling down from where he was sitting and landing on his bottom.

"Ow, kid." Axel laughed, grabbing one strand of Roxas' hair tightly to prevent himself from falling to the floor. He sat comfortably in the scalp of Roxas' head. The blond's scent was comforting. The miniature being sure loved staying in the golden hair. "Just answer yes." He provided simply.

"_No!_" Roxas snapped, frowning at Ansem. "It's not a lovebite! Who would bite me?!" he retorted, all but calm.

"I am merely inquiring, child. Do not get all worked up over it. You should get those treated, child. Come." Ansem stood from where he was sitting, walking over to the sink in the kitchen.

Roxas stood up, still wincing from the pain of the impact, approaching Ansem.

Ansem turned the tap on and water began bursting out. He touched the tip of his index finger to the water and the water turned blue and eventually became particles, rising up to the air and began to sparkle. They flew to Roxas' neck and covered up the wounds for several minutes. Then, the particles darkened and died out and the wounds were completely healed.

Roxas was astonished. Slowly, he rubbed the area where his wounds should be, but there was nothing. It was as if he never had any wounds at all.

"Now, that's magic. Your grandpa's good." Axel commented. "Deep wounds aren't easy to heal, Roxas."

'Thanks, grandpa." Roxas grinned.

"Be careful next time."

"Y-yes."

Ansem walked passed Roxas and sat back down in front of the table, followed by Roxas. "So, how did your magic progress go?" he asked, downing his already warm soup.

"I've successfully manipulated and form a ball of fire. And..."

"Don't tell him everything, kid. He won't be happy if he knew that you've learned the spells without him teaching it."

Roxas contemplated, thinking a bit. "And?" Ansem's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"And I think I understand how the healing magic works."

Ansem frowned the slightest bit. "Is that so?"

"Yes."

"That is excellent. We can begin practicing more tomorrow morning. Now, it is time to watch the news." Ansem grinned, amused when he heard his grandson's grunts.

"No more news!" Roxas whined.

"Now, now, Son. News is..."

"Important." Roxas cut in before Ansem could continue to lecture him. "Got it, gramps. I'll clean up the table. Then, I'll be outside cutting woods. Call me if you need me."

"No, Roxas. You're going to watch the news with me after you've cleaned up the dishes." Ansem said sternly, sly smile still in place before the old man walked over to the living room and turned on the wall-sized TV.

Roxas growled. "No..." he sobbed exaggeratedly.

"You're such a drama queen, Master." Axel smirked, resting comfortably in Roxas' hair.

"Am not." Roxas countered.

"But you're still super sexy no matter what. And you'll be even sexier if you reveal more of your skin to me." Axel flirted.

Roxas immediately flushed. "And I was about to ask you if you'd want to eat." He pouted.

"Yes!" Axel answered immediately, beaming. "I'm hungry already!"

"Maybe not." Roxas narrowed his eyes.

"B-but.. Roxas! I'll behave! I promise!" Axel pleaded. "I will try to resist touching you when I'm around you."

"Oh, really?" Roxas questioned, thinking that it was a good deal.

"Yes!" Axel answered almost immediately.

"Alright. I can save you some bread and some soup."

"Ah, master! You're the best!"

"But you promised..."

"I'll _try_. Can't help it if I lose control." Axel countered in a singsong.

Roxas grunted yet again. Axel had managed to create a loophole to break his own promise.

And... he fell for it.

--

Sorry for the lack of updates. Computer's struck with virus, can't go online. So there... Well, there won't be so many updates since summer school starts on Monday for me. I'll try my best.

Hope you enjoyed.

Thank you,

Love.


	4. Master and Servant, Student and Teacher

**Special Thanks: **to **Mei Lynn 64. **For we know what, Mei. xD –shifty eyes- shh, a secret!! Lol. Anyway, thanks, Mei!

Thank you all for reading and reviewing and of course, faving and alerting. It means a lot to me.

Without further ado.

Let's get on with the fun!

Enjoy! : D

**Chained Souls **

**--**

_Their souls are chained together..._

_--_

**Chapter 4**

**Master and Servant, Student and Teacher**

Axel was wasting his time away, resting with his back against a sturdy branch of a tree, under the bright su... scratch that. There was never any sunlight in Evillois. Evillois was known through out the history as the only Land which had never seen the Sun. Past scientists and leaders had tried to form an environment where artificial sunlight would be sufficient to support lives, but they had all died, leaving their researches behind for the future generations to take over.

Axel groaned. As of now, he wanted no more than for the sunlight to lightly touch his pale face. It had been so long—too long since he saw the sun. And oh-how-fortunate for him to be awakened in the only Land with no sun...just his luck.

Well, it was also his luck to be able to meet someone as sexy as Roxas too, of course.

His Master was his favorite subject to flirt. All his life, he had never before met someone as innocent and as stubborn as Roxas. Axel would never admit it to the world, but Roxas was stubborn as hell.

"Hey, Roxas. You know what? You're stubborn."

Alright, again, scratch that last sentence.

"Excuse me?" Roxas stopped in the middle of his sweaty activity, panting, and huffing, moaning in the damp atmosphere.

Axel watched in contentment. Being free surely was great. With Roxas in his arms, holding his little master flush to his body, listening to that small moans and whimpers. He wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. Oh how great it was to shove his tongue down Roxas' throat—wait... that sounded like the horned being was trying to murder and choke that small, fragile being to death. Of course not, not at all. There was no way in the world Axel would ever have the desire to murder that delicious human being. He would rather have that little body writhing under his touch, wanting more. The sight of that body beneath him was absolutely a sight to behold. There was no way of describing that little blond. No way. He was simply too gorgeous—for the fact that the authoress had run out of any describing ability and was extremely lazy.

So, Axel was off in his little dream world, smirking all the way, knowing that it was all too humorous for him to be imagining all those nasty thoughts in his mind. He was becoming rotten. Had he been cursed to be a being filled with lust? That was an excuse more than anything. Axel laughed suddenly, startling the blond who was still panting and now... was moaning Axel's name.

"Axel..." Roxas moaned dangerously. "Get your ass down here right now. I'm getting impatient." He demanded, grunting.

Axel laughed again. His master was too innocent. If this was seen in a different atmosphere where two beings were sweating and wanting more out of each other—add in the sight of the two without any attire tied to them—only skin meeting skin, moist, and heavy breathing... the redhead was sure that everybody but Roxas would come to a very simple conclusion.

"What are you doing there laughing?" Roxas narrowed his eyes.

Axel was content with just going off in his little imaginative world.

So, the servant was having a fun time lying on his back on a sturdy branch, feeling the wind blowing against him. While the Master was standing near said tree, holding an arm long axe, chopping woods, sweating and panting because there was apparently no wind blowing his way and he was fuming himself off with his servant's inappropriate behavior. After all, wasn't the servant supposed to help his master with chores?

Apparently not.

Roxas growled for the umphteenth time in that afternoon. With a last growl, the blond finally lose all his patient, resorting instead to narrow his eyes at the redhead. Oh no, not merely just that...he registered in his mind the redhead's position. Taking a careful and scarily accurate aim, the blond raised his axe and hurled the weapon at one-who-he-refused-to-call-a-servant. The axe went flying away beautifully, effectively chopping down the sturdy branch.

Emerald eyes bulged.

"Holy!"

There was no time for Axel to dodge or even to jump away. Actually, there was a split millisecond for him to save his life. However, for the sake of keeping his image and coolness to everyone that was watching him—which was only Roxas currently—he prompted instead to stand up on the falling branch. And with extreme coolness—with the wind blowing against his awesomely flaming red hair—the redhead fell together with the branch whilst summoning a wind shield to prevent the axe from splitting him apart. Sure, he was hot, but one of him was enough. He didn't fancy seeing himself split apart, letting the world have two of him, walking on one foot with one arm and one horn. That....certainly didn't strike as hot anymore. And blood would surely pool everywhere he walked—something that Axel would refrain from imagining. In addition, having his insides shown to the world everywhere he walked; his intestines, his beating heart, his kidney, his liver, his flesh...

Axel shook his head to stop his imagination from running wild.

"Did you have a fun time?" Roxas growled, obviously annoyed, sarcasm dripping from every word that left his mouth. He was sweaty and he didn't like it.

Axel grinned, jumping off the branch and gracefully stood in front of his Master. "What's up, Master?" he asked nonchalantly.

Roxas was about to spit out an immediate retort, but he contemplated for a while before calming his breath down. "I want to kill." He stated honestly.

"I'm here for your personal enjoyment." Axel bowed, chuckling.

"Okay, look. It's nothing against you. Honestly, I just watched the news and listened to Grandpa talking for hours and now I have this chore to cut the wood in the late middle of the day. I'm not exactly what you would call cheerful." Roxas huffed, taking back the axe that hurled right back to him and began chopping the woods. Beside him stood a mountain of thick wood that was waiting to be chopped.

Oh yes, those woods were eagerly waiting for Roxas' axe to devour them and turn them into pieces.

Sweaty Roxas was definitely a sight to behold for the redhead—another enjoyment and entertainment that proved Etillis' failure in the entertainment industry. But of course, Axel did not suggest for the blond to star in any of Etillis' entertainment. That wouldn't do. Certainly not.

His master was his, conscious or not.

"I'd do anything to calm your anger."

Roxas narrowed his eyes in suspicions, backing away slightly. "Okay, that tone and your voice... I don't like them..." he stated, as a matter of fact, looking at the redhead from the corner of his eyes.

Axel grinned so wide, Roxas thought the redhead's face was going to split apart.

"Okay, let's cut to the chest. I can teach a magic that will help you with this chore and get it done in a matter of minutes." Axel spoke, business-like.

Roxas backed away more. "And you will do that because..." he drawled.

"Because it's _bori..._ well, not exactly. Okay, if you don't want to accept the offer, sure. I'd be more than happy to find more places where I can drool over your sweaty figure and imagine all sorts of things... like, touching you, stroking you in places, giving you all the pleasure you'll..."

"STOP!" Roxas dead-panned, flushing like no tomorrow, biting his lower lip, his face contorted in disgust.

Axel smirked. He certainly knew how to push Roxas' buttons.

"Okay, okay! Just teach me, do whatever you want!" Roxas continued, flabbergasting in the worst way possible.

"Oh, do _whatever_ I want? Are you sure?" Axel drawled, smirking and chuckling so evilly that Roxas wanted nothing more than for the man in front of him to die a horrible death in hell.

"I'm not..." Roxas' eyes bulged. He released a deep frustrated breath, embarrassed beyond all reasons.

"That's suggestive." Axel commented.

Roxas growled, absolutely annoyed. "Water, buried deep underground within the Earth, come forth and sweep my enemy away." He chanted.

As Roxas finished his spell, water burst out of nowhere, building a shield around him, surrounding him in its wall of protection.

"Are you serious?" Axel frowned, whispering to no one in particular, trying to touch the shield of water. The water turned violent, taking the shape of little dragons, threatening to bite his fingers off. Axel gulped, backing away slowly. "Roxas!" he shouted, suddenly worried about his master's safety.

"I'm here?" Roxas answered uncertainly, raising his right arm as if he was taking attendance—as if Axel could see him, surrounded by the cylindrical wall of water.

"Don't move. This is a nasty magic. Those dragons could eat you!" Axel spoke, wary.

"Uhh, what dragons?" Roxas questioned quizzically.

"This magic... is the Water Dragon Wall spell."

"That gives a lot of information." Roxas commented awkwardly.

"Don't move." Axel warned.

"Uh huh..." Roxas blinked. However, he didn't feel like listening to the redhead right then.

As Axel was thinking up a spell to counter Roxas' magic, ready to chant the spell, Roxas surprisingly walked out of the wall of water and the water vanished into thin air. Axel was shocked.

"Huh..." Roxas grinned, watching the walls vanished.

Axel flushed, embarrassed that his intuition was wrong.

Roxas caught this. "There, there. Everyone makes mistakes." He chuckled, happy that it was time for Axel to lose his touch.

Axel didn't response, staring at everywhere but at the pair of cerulean in front of him.

Roxas smiled, having decided not to dwell in the matters further. "Thanks for worrying though. I really appreciate it." he spoke kindly, taking up his axe, going back to chop woods.

Axel watched without a word leaving his mouth.

--

Axel was sitting Indian style in front of his master who was still chopping the rest of the wood with an axe. He blinked when he came to a realization that his master actually had a quite good physical strength to be able to lift such a heavy axe and using it again and again on those logs. He slightly wondered if his grandfather didn't teach Roxas advanced spells early on because the old man wanted his grandson to be capable in both physical and mental department. He could come to understand seeing that spells and magic wouldn't a hundred percent guarantee safety. Mortals had their extent and using too many spells and magic in a day would push their extents to their limits causing them to waste away their lives slowly.

The redhead didn't even blink an eye as a chip of sharp wood flew by him and injured his cheek.

He was sitting in such a close proximity, watching his master obediently, that Roxas even started to get nervous, afraid that he might injure the man.

"Hey, Roxas. Where did you learn all those spells?"

"All those? Which ones?" Roxas questioned. His breathing was unleveled due to his activity.

"The Water Wall and the Fire Vines. The chants that came out of your mouth."

Roxas stopped after he successfully cut another piece of log. He stuck the sharp edge of his axe on the ground. "What chants?" he frowned, putting a hand to his hips, wondering aloud.

Axel didn't reply.

"I don't remember saying any chants." The blond shrugged, bending down, about to take his axe again, wanting no more than to finish his chore quickly.

Axel watched the blond closely, not saying a word. Then, he stood up and put a hand on Roxas' hand that was holding the axe's handle.

"Huh?" Roxas looked up. Cerulean eyes meeting acidic green.

Axel smirked. "I'll teach you the wind magic. It would be another hour before you'll finish cutting all these woods. Why?" he retracted his hand, still grinning lazily, raking his hair a bit, and putting both of his hands to his womanly hips. Roxas blinked. "Because I believe that you won't abuse the magic for convenience, no?"

"Huh?" The blond raised an eyebrow.

"Magic is not used for personal convenience."

"But, you're about to teach me to..." Roxas stuck his bottom lip out, thinking.

Axel grinned innocently. "The blame can be all placed on me. You can only use magic for personal convenience when I allow it."

"Since when does the slave-master relationship switch?" the master frowned.

Axel laughed. "Smart kid." He patted Roxas' head affectionately.

Roxas immediately swatted the hand away.

"Alright, without having much talk. Sit down, kid."

"No." Roxas retorted, being stubborn.

"Sit down." Axel said firmly.

"Like it or not. N-O. No." Roxas pouted.

Axel, however, found it cute. He laughed. "Alright, suit yourself, Roxas. Now..." he walked slowly on the field that was filled with wilting grasses and plants. "The wind and air are two of the wide range of essences that fulfill human's life." He started to explain.

Roxas listened carefully.

"However, wind and air are one. They are the same thing. People commonly made a mistake that they are two different elements. That's why a lot of students failed in understanding the wind element."

"Students? What students?" Roxas tilted his head to the side, watching as the man in front of him paced back and forth.

"Listen when I talk. Don't talk when I talk." Axel stated, his voice calm.

"Sorry..." Roxas whispered, surprised. That was the first time that he saw Axel being serious.

"Although in understanding, air and wind have very different meanings." The redhead continued, rubbing the scale in his arm. His other hand went to touch one of his horns in a thoughtful gesture. "Do you know?" he turned to ask the blond.

"Huh?" Roxas looked around, dumb-founded. "Me?" he pointed to himself. Axel nodded. "Well... the air is the air we breathe in right? While wind is...the moving air?"

"Exactly. Without air, there is no wind. That is why I said that they are one and the same. They are composed of one another."

Roxas nodded, though he was quite unsure. He decided not to think about the whole matter too much.

"Don't question the theory, simply accept it." Axel said easily.

The blond nodded again. He had learn enough not to question some things. Ansem taught him that.

"So, with that cleared. There are again, two properties of this element. The wind can heal as well as injure. And as usual, master its healing properties first before utilizing its offensive property."

"How can I do that?" Roxas asked, smiling excitedly.

"Use your imagination." Axel grinned. "The wind is all around you."

Roxas grunted. He closed his eyes, trying to feel the wind around him as he did for water, but he couldn't feel anything. There was nothing at all. He was just standing there, feeling alone, and separated from nature—from the elements.

"Nothing." The blond stated.

"Try again." Axel stated simply, watching the blond closely.

The blond took in a deep breath and tried again.

"Use the healing magic on me."

"Heal." Roxas stated. There was a small _poof_ on Axel's hand, but that was it. "Is that right?" he asked uncertainly.

"No." Axel shook his head, frowning a bit, seemingly thinking. "Watch closely, Master."

Roxas did as Axel told him.

Standing in front of his master, the redhead closed his eyes. Soon, the wind stirred and started blowing in their direction, wrapping and enshrouding Axel in their calm and comforting manner. The redhead stretched his right arm and the wind began to gather at the tip of his index finger, forming a green ball of energy. As he flicked his hand, green sparkles suddenly surrounded Roxas' body.

The blond could hear a beautiful ringing of a bell before he felt refreshed as the wind flew against him, embracing him gently.

And then, everything stopped.

"That's the Heal spell, kid."

"Wow... how'd you do that? I can't even feel the wind." Roxas said in awe.

"You're not trying hard enough. Keep practicing." A pause. "I'll help you with these logs. Watch closely."

Roxas nodded.

Axel gathered a ball of energy to the tip of his hand again and suddenly a double edge blade that was fluffy and soft looking—made from wind—manifested in his hand. He let the blade go and the blade dematerialized into infinitesimal pieces, floating around him. "Wind Blade." He stated calmly and then, the infinitesimal pieces of wind began to envelope the logs in such great speed, as if devouring the logs greedily.

Before Roxas knew what happened, all he saw was that the logs were already cut to pieces, neatly and beautifully. His eyes went wide. "That's... amazing." He whispered.

"You should be able to do this..." Axel stated uncertainly. There was something very peculiar about his master—something that he couldn't make an explanation as of yet.

"I'll try!" Roxas grinned brightly acting as if he was a child that had just received his first candy bar in years.

Axel smiled, amused seeing Roxas' enthusiasm.

And then, Roxas closed his eyes again.

--

It was almost night. But of course, Evillois was always dark and there was hardly any way to tell whether it was day or dark. Roxas, having lived in Evillois all his life, knew how to differentiate the time.

The blond was already sweating again, trying his very best to master the element and the magic. He did it so easily with the water element. Was that merely a coincidence? His luck? He couldn't even feel the wind no matter how much he tried and the wind spell that he casted was nothing but failure. Axel waited and watched patiently, sitting on Roxas' house roof.

Roxas grunted. "I give up." He growled.

Axel grinned. "We can try again tomorrow. At least your chores are done."

The blond was honestly surprised that the redhead was trying to comfort him.

Axel yawned, stretching his arms. "I'm tired. Go take a bath, kid."

"Huh? Why?"

"You're sweaty. I don't wanna sleep in your sweaty hair." Axel whined, pouting like a child.

Roxas laughed.

"Though, you know—the main reason I want you to take a bath is..."

"So that I can learn the wind element easier?" Roxas tried.

"No. Who told you that?"

"No one." Roxas grinned.

"Huh. Ah well, I just wanted to see your deliciously small body in the shower. It's yummy. My appetite will be fully satiated."

Roxas blushed brightly and went to somersault the redhead.

--

Roxas took a bath after he made sure that he had the redhead secure in place, tied to his bedpost using water ropes. He double checked to make sure that the ropes were tight enough. When he was satisfied with his work, he went to bath, deafening himself from Axel's whines and protests.

He had forgotten that Axel could turn into his mini-form.

Needless to say, Axel had a good entertainment that night. Though not as good because all he could see from where he was, was Roxas taking a bath in all his naked-glory....and Axel could only see Roxas' upper body due to the hot steam blocking his sight.

The redhead sighed in disappointment.

Immediately after Roxas was done taking his bath, Axel dashed out of the bathroom, turned back to his normal form and went back to his original tied position, pretending that he hadn't done anything, smirking inwardly and still whining and protesting to further bury Roxas' suspicions.

--

Dinner was done and it was time for sleep.

Axel rested comfortably on Roxas' hair, the fresh and sweet scent of shampoo coursing through the Roxas' golden locks. The redhead was lulled to sleep almost immediately.

"Hey, Axel." Roxas spoke, his eyes were still wide open in the darkness of his bedroom. Ansem had dismissed all his light spells in the house, leaving the entire house dark.

"Hmm?" Axel answered lazily, indicating that he was still awake.

Roxas put a hand to his head. Axel took that gesture and stepped on to his master's palm. Carefully, the master retracted his hand and put Axel down on his chest, staring at the tiny emerald eyes that were gleaming brilliantly in the dark. With a single flick of hand, the blond casted a simple light spell that his grandfather had taught him, illuminating a small area in his room. He let the small ball of light floating at his side, lighting the both of them.

It was silence, but calm breathing could be heard.

"My little master can't sleep?" Axel teased, grinning. "What can his servant do to help?"

"For the last time, Axel." Roxas sighed. "Don't call me master. You're not my servant."

"Well, you broke the seal and..."

"Yeah, I know. But we don't have to be master and servant, right?"

"What then?" the servant questioned.

"Teacher and Student?" Roxas said what came to his mind.

"I'm the teacher, obviously." The redhead commented cockily.

"Or...we can always be all of those." Roxas contemplated, suddenly feeling stubborn and not wanting to let the redhead have superiority over him.

Axel laughed. "Anytime, master."

Roxas smiled. "It's a nice night."

"I agree." Axel replied, settling in on Roxas' chest, hearing the calm breathing of his master. He laid to his sides, curling up adorably before settling in to his slumber, horn curled down to indicate that the redhead was already dead to the world.

"Axel, just now... I felt something... like that time where I first discovered the caver..." when the blond looked down, he found that his servant was already asleep. "We can leave that for tomorrow." He smiled, whispering softly, watching the tiny figure shifted a bit, finding a comfortable position on his chest.

The blond placed his index finger on the tiny figure, stroking the redhead's back gently.

"Good night, Axel." He whispered before going to sleep.

--

Well, the explanation of the wind element sure is hard... O.o yeah...

Hope you enjoyed. The flirt, the fluff... : D

Love.


	5. The Sealed Cave

What happened?.. I carelessly took of chapter 2-5, thinking that I would correct them. But decided that I don't have the time, so I put them back on…

**Chained Souls**

--

_There was once…two heroes…_

--

**Chapter 5**

**The Sealed Cave**

There was silence…

The winds broke the silence, blowing the dusts on the desert, leading it to somewhere undestined.

Bazillions of troops and armies were gathered in the gloominess of the desert, where no sun shone. The sky was crimson blood, dark and tainted. The winds were stirring in discomfort, giving a sign that misfortunes would occur soon.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

The bells were ringing.

A non-existent clock could be heard ticking in the distant.

And there were roars of war.

Blades were unsheathed.

Magics were casted.

--

In the darkness of a room, pupils were dilated, catching in any light that they came across in order to have a better view and grasp of the suddenly unfamiliar area that the blond was in.

Roxas gasped.

"…A dream?..." he muttered, staring out of the window above where he was sleeping. It was dark, as always. Pitch dark…such was the situation of Evillois at night. The blond blinked a couple of times in order to adjust to the dark before closing his eyes. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, taking in deep breathes, shifting uncomfortably on where he was lying. He had already forgotten about the miniature redhead that was supposedly lying on his body.

The servant was already thrown off of bed earlier with a nasty land to the ground.

Currently, the redhead was standing at the side of the room, still unhappy at the sudden throw. His eyes had easily adjusted to the darkness and the dim light that was casted upon the entire house. He had the eyes of a cat that could see easily in the dark.

He smirked when the blond fell asleep again, smiling softly.

--

When morning came, there was a loud scream and several soft curses that could be heard ringing across the house. There was no way of making out who the screams and curses belonged to... except that they contained violent and murderous intents.

--

Axel had bruises all over his face.

And Roxas' frown stayed for one day long.

Ansem could only question what had happened. He had very well decided that it was for the best not to inquire his grandson when the blond was behaving like that. He had never seen Roxas so upset before.

And the day passed.

The night came without any notice.

"_You, _mister. You're going to sleep _outside_." Roxas hissed, narrowing his eyes into mere slits, pointing out of the window to further proof his point. There was no humor in his expression. It was full of malice and full of murderous intents and of course, anger.

"What? Whyyyy?" Axel whined, trying his best to muster up his cute and puppy dog eyes expression. He took a step forward, hoping that he could somehow calm the rage of the blond. But each step forward that he took, Roxas would counter by taking two steps backwards.

Roxas bit his lower lip in fury, about to burst out in frustration. "You _dare_ ask _why?" _he hissed, voice threatening and dangerous.

"Master, I'm really sorry!!!" Axel grinned, showing that he was not at all sincere in his apology.

"Get. The. Freaking. Hell. Out. Of. Here." Roxas spoke, stressing and meaning every single word. "You…are not permitted to show up in front of me until I've forgotten about all that happened. Until then,_Servant_." He added spitefully.

"Bu-but… you said that…we're not… servant and master…" Axel spoke, his horns curling down in sadness, his head hung low, his lips forming an adorable pout, his jade eyes were blinking, looking hopefully to his master. The only thing he hoped for now was for the higher entity above to calm his master's anger.

Roxas was about to break when he saw the redhead's expression, feeling guilty all of a sudden. "_Axel_. Don't make me any more angry than I am now." He threatened, death glaring the being with horns and scales in front of him. "Out."

"Very well, master. But…" Axel sniffed mockingly, exaggeratedly. "Do know that I deeply regret my actions. It is because I care for you, master. I seek nothing more than to protect and earn your trust. I seek nothing more than to be with you, Master. Master, I…" the redhead seemed to be about to burst into tears. Bur of course, Evillois would have sunlight again by the time said redhead really 'burst into tears.'

"Axel." The blond reprimanded firmly, huffing.

"Yes, Master." Axel walked out of the room, head hung low as if he was a dejected puppy that had been thrown away by its master.

Roxas heaved a deep breath when Axel was out of the room. With a roll of eyes, he threw himself down on his bed. He stretched his hand out to grab his pillow and put it on top of his body, hugging it tight. He took in a deep, exhausted breath, wanting no more than for sleep to embrace his being. However, sleep never seemed to come. He was wide awake, remembering back what happened that morning.

He was certainly not happy with the fact that Axel had taken the liberty to revert back into his normal size and slept beside him. When he was awaken, the redhead was hugging him tight and they were cuddling to one another. That had certainly shocked him to a high degree and it had certainly heightened his body temperature much more than he could ever imagine and he was not even having a fever!

He was deliberately upset. There was no way in his sanity that he could ever come to sense that it was alright for two people of the same sex to be sleeping together. His grandfather had taught him so and what he saw on TV was more than enough to shape his way of thinking. He was not sure why he was so enraged, but he knew that it was right for him to be upset.

He never would have guessed that it had turned out that way.

However, in some way, he had given Axel trust, seeing that he had allowed the redhead to sleep with him for the night. He had never imagined the consequences to that.

Yet another however, he surely felt guilty to see that expression on the redhead's face. So desperate and sad… what if Axel had meant what he had said? As far as he knew, Axel could be counted as a nice guy, right? But of course, he had never known anyone in his life other than his grandfather. Somehow though, he could come to a conclusion that Axel was really not a bad guy at all. He was…decent… certainly more decent than half of the people that he had seen on the television.

And the fact that the redhead had tried his very best to acquire and beg for Roxas' apology for the rest of the day was enough to make the blond feel bad about himself.

He heaved another deep sigh, contemplating on his action.

He finally narrowed his eyes again, forming a pouty expression.

Axel deserved punishment.

And the redhead needed to be taught some things called 'personal bubbles' and the 'line of patience.'

--

The redhead was resting on top of the branch of a sturdy tree just right outside of Roxas' house. He sighed. The darkness of the night was getting into him and he was definitely shivering out of the cold. The temperature dropped drastically at night in Evillois. Letting out a small breath, he summoned a small fireball that floated beside him to keep himself warm. Silently, he wondered if he would be able to sleep like that. He could definitely go back to the cave where he belonged and stayed there. However, he did not have the desire to leave his master.

The area was pitch dark and he could hear the howls of wolves. …Wolves? He frowned.

"…" he opened his mouth to let out another small breath, scanning the area with his eyes, navigating the small fireball around as his light, careful as to not set fire in the forests. "Nothing…" he whispered. Then he went back to lie back down.

--

Roxas blinked, grunting in annoyance.

He couldn't sleep!

How could that be possible?

He always had a good, nice sleep every night.

He hated himself for going against his conscience. He bit his lower lip in guilt.

What if the redhead was shivering? What if the redhead was eaten by the forests' beasts?

_As if._

He convinced himself. He knew that Axel was definitely stronger than him. The redhead was more than capable of protecting himself. Midnight struck and Roxas was having nightmares. He was jolted up from his sleep. With a grunt, he got up from where he was sleeping and taking a spare blanket together with him. He walked out of the balcony of his room, looking around, trying to spot that one peculiar being that had kept him up. "Axel?" he called out softly, doubting that the servant would ever hear him. He tapped his fingers against the wall, curving his lips to the side, seemingly thinking over his course of action, making a nice rhythm.

Taking in a deep breath, he finally came to compromise that he would immediately go back to sleep if Axel didn't appear the second time he called the name. "Axel."

He waited for a few moments before he decided to go back to his room.

When he was about to close the door to his balcony, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and he yelped, turning around quickly. "Axel?"

"You called?" Axel grinned brightly, standing gloriously in his striking posture, shone by the small fireball that was still floating loyally beside him.

Roxas flushed. "And where'd you get that idea from?"

"Cause I heard you!!!" Axel smirked, saying in a playful singsong, happy as a child could be when allowed to eat candies.

"N-no, I didn't!" Roxas replied, still shocked that the redhead had actually heard him.

"I'll be watching out 24/7 for you, master. Consider yourself officially betrothed to a stalker."

"What?!" Roxas frowned.

"Just kidding. I love ya, kid. So, what's up?" the redhead spoke, crouching on the edge of the handles, balanced and leveled.

Roxas groaned, shoving the blanket he was holding to the redhead.

"Huh? What's this?"

"You…might get cold. Just take it." The blond replied timidly.

Emerald eyes were wide. "For me?"

Roxas was still timid, biting his lower lip nervously.

Axel smiled and took the blanket. Gently, he patted his little master on the head affectionately. "Thanks, master. You're a nice kid." He commented, voice soft and caring. "I deserve this punishment. But you know, you should learn to toughen up."

"What?" Roxas challenged, pouting. "I don't want you to get sick. You're really the first person that I know besides grandpa." He stated, as a matter of fact.

"Oh?"

"Just go out and sleep." Roxas blew raspberries and walked into his room, about ready to close the door to the balcony.

"Hey, thanks…Roxas."

Roxas paused for a while before smiling. "Sure."

--

The morning wasn't at all colorful. Roxas had to make a trip to the Forest of Dark once again in order to gather food. "Roxas." Ansem called before Roxas was out of sight.

"Yeah, grandpa?" Roxas asked cheerfully.

Ansem stared at his grandson thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes in the slightest bit.

Roxas stood still for a while there, stunned, unable to move. Ansem was looking directly at his head…in which the redhead was comfortably sitting on. What would his grandfather think if he found out that Roxas had brought an unknown man home? An unknown creature… he would be lucky if Ansem merely decided to punish the redhead…okay, that was selfish of him. But hey, being punished by his grandfather was not exactly a fun thing in the world. He knew.

"Take good care of yourself." Ansem spoke calmly.

Roxas released a sigh of relieve silently, still being careful around his grandfather. "Yes, grandpa. Anything special that you would want me to fetch for you?" he asked innocently, being a good grandson that he was.

"No. Roxas, the wind will blow strongly from the west. Come back before the sun sets."

Roxas blinked a couple of times before nodding. "Alright," he smiled, going out of the house.

Ansem turned and gave his grandson a meaningful look.

--

"Gramps is acting weird…" Roxas whispered as he dashed through the darkness of the forest with practiced ease. He summoned fireballs every time he encountered poison toads. Apparently, those slimy, green poison toads were highly vulnerable to fire. He tried using absorb, but it backfired. He ended up suffering damage and healing the enemies.

"Isn't that old man of yours always so creepy?" Axel commented ignorantly, lying on his back on Roxas' scalp.

"No, he's not!" Roxas countered. "Don't speak about grandpa that way," he warned.

"Ah, my apologies, Master," the redhead grinned, replying sincerely. "I didn't have the intention to offend you." He stood up, holding on a strand of Roxas' hair then, looking around the gigantic area around him under the golden bushes that were Roxas' hair.

"You're being… unexpectedly obedient today," Roxas frowned, not really trusting the horned being.

"Where are you running off to?" Axel inquired, noticing that his master had headed off to a different direction.

"I have a feeling that something is here."

"Yeah, like what?"

"Can't you sense it? The wind? It's whispering…"

"Are you okay, kid?"

"It's whispering for me to come to them. Just ahead…" Roxas kept running deep into the forest.

"Kid! No no… Roxas! Head back!"

"It's the same feeling as that cavern I found you, Axel. Maybe this is another one of those caverns that you mentioned."

"No, this area is too dangerous. Don't venture any further!"

But Roxas kept running forward. A cave was at sight, just right ahead.

"Roxas, listen to me!" Axel finally jumped off of Roxas and transform into his normal form, blocking Roxas up front. "What are you doing?!" he yelled, gripping his master's shoulder.

"What?" Roxas snapped, blinking.

"You can't approach a cavern carelessly, kid. You could get yourself killed."

"It was okay the last time I…"

"That was different." The redhead let go of the blond and turned to give a thoughtful look at the cavern's entrance. "This is not within my territory, Roxas. This is not one of _my_ caverns."

"Not one of your…?... what do you mean? But…"

"You said that the wind is whispering. What are its whispers?"

"They're calling out to me…" the blond answered hesitantly.

Axel was quiet, watching silently ahead. "Let's go back. You still have to do your chores." He turned and walked passed Roxas, heading back.

"Hey, wait!" the blond ran after Axel, still staring at the entrance of the cave.

--

"Hey, Axel. Are you going to explain?" Roxas questioned, shifting his attention up to his hair, where the mini-redhead dwelled.

"Explain what, dear?" the redhead drawled lazily.

Roxas could feel goose bumps all over his body. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he narrowed his eyes in disbelieve.

Axel smirked. "Everything's wrong with me," he whined. "My body aches all over and I think I caught a cold," he sighed.

Roxas' heart skipped a beat. "O-Oh yeah?" he asked, trying to be indifferent.

"Yeah…" Axel sighed.

"So, what's that cavern just now?... you seemed… out of sorts seeing it."

"Ah, it's nothing. It's a sealed cavern anyway. It's none of your concern, kid."

Roxas frowned even deeper. "You're annoying," he pouted.

"Aww, you know you love me."

"No I'm not." Roxas stuck his tongue out.

"You are," Axel countered in a singsong.

"Am not!" the blond stressed.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"Serious."

Roxas yelped and stopped in his track, jumping back as he watched the redhead transformed into his normal size right before him. "What are you doing?!" he yelled, clearly not happy with the sudden heart attack.

The redhead closed his eyes and bowed graciously. Roxas frowned and blushed at the same time. Then, before he could register what happened, he was lifted off the ground, into the horned being's arms. The redhead grinned brightly—almost too bright.

"Gah! What are you doing, Axel?! Let me down!" the blond struggled.

"No can do! You'll end up falling down on your butt again! And I sure don't want you to get hurt. Your body is delicate as is," the servant grinned victoriously as he saw the crimson on his master's face. "Now, let's go gather all those resources," he winked.

"You're… a lunatic!" Roxas scoffed, crossing his arms in his chest.

"Hold tight!"

And there was a scream as Axel jumped, flying up to a tree branch and he began leaping freely through each branches, carrying his small master easily.

"Let me down!!!"

And thus, the peace in the forest was disrupted by the two beings.

--

And… I apologize for the lateness and the shortness of the update. –shot- Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed. I'll try my very best to get this one going.

Love.


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